NOVPUB
Chapter 140: What Are They Doing in This Place?
A group of Dwarves in full armor walked with tired postures. They looked as though they had just experienced a long, grueling battle, their armor covered in dents and scratches. Some had even lost limbs, being carried on stretchers by their comrades.
At the forefront was a dwarf with the highest cultivation among them, at the Low King stage. His armor, though almost broken, emitted the unmistakable aura of a divine-grade artifact, setting it apart from the others. He wore a grim expression, and all the signs pointed to a costly failure.
"Sir Vandal, did it fail again?" asked a dwarf with the cultivation level of a Grand Duke, part of a new group that had just arrived.
Vandal looked at the dwarf and replied with exasperation, "What do you think?"
"Well, it seems we’ve failed again, and there are casualties," the man sighed. "It looks like the low divine-grade armor wasn’t enough to breach the barrier. We might need to try using the middle divine-grade next time."
"What is Lord Badin thinking, wasting our family’s legacy here? Today, he seems to be in a rush for some reason," Vandal said.
"I don’t know. Ever since he came back from the royal palace, he’s been more anxious. He’s been pushing us to take action, even though he knows it’ll cost us dearly if we proceed recklessly," the dwarf replied, looking at the now battered armor. It was a pity to see this masterpiece, one of the Badin family’s legacy artifacts, so damaged.
"Let’s bring another—" Before the man could finish his sentence, another voice interrupted.
"Wow, you guys are really something. To do this to low divine-grade armor... I wonder what you’ve been up to?"
Vandal and the other dwarf were shocked by the sudden appearance of the young man who was now inside their base camp. They had neither seen him approach nor heard voice. Instinctively, they attempted to release their techniques to subdue him, but their bodies refused to respond. They felt a sudden, overwhelming heaviness, and before they could react, the young man teleported in front of them and punched them in the gut.
The low divine-grade armor on Vandal merely let out a dull sound, absorbing the impact. However, the other dwarf wasn’t so lucky—he instantly fainted and collapsed to the ground.
"As expected from a divine-grade artifact," Aldrian remarked, dodging an incoming punch from Vandal. "Even in such a pitiful state, it’s still divine-grade."
Despite Aldrian’s control over gravity, Vandal’s sheer power and will as a King stage cultivator enabled him to retaliate. The gravity around him had increased a hundredfold, yet Vandal’s strength allowed him to fight back.
Vandal’s fist, which never reached its target, was caught mid-air by Aldrian. Without warning, Vandal’s face met a direct punch from Aldrian, but with his hand firmly held, his body remained stationary. One punch wasn’t enough. Aldrian punched him again, and then again, with relentless force. Finally, Vandal managed to shout through the pain.
"Spare... spare me, plea...se," he stammered, only then causing Aldrian to stop his assault. With a swift motion, Aldrian sealed Vandal’s cultivation. Despite being a King stage cultivator for quite some time, Vandal now felt the crushing humiliation of defeat. The helplessness that came from his sealed cultivation left him no choice but to surrender.
Vandal, bruised and beaten, glanced around with his swollen eyes. What he saw left him in shock—his colleagues and subordinates had all been subdued by a man wearing a conical straw hat, of course he was none other than Xin Haotian. Vandal’s entire group, which included dwarves at the Marquess, Duke, and Grand Duke stages, lay unconscious on the ground, felled with clean strikes and no visible external wounds. 𝖓𝔬𝖛𝔭𝔲𝖇.𝔠𝔬𝖒
The realization hit him like a hammer—this was a planned attack! He tried to look at Aldrian again but froze in disbelief when he saw another figure appear.
It was Duke Valiard.
"Duke Valiard! Did you plan this attack? What is the meaning of this?" Vandal shouted, his voice full of anger and confusion.
Duke Valiard ignored him, and said to Aldrian. "This is Vandal Badin, one of the guardians of the Badin family, and that man over there," he said, pointing to an unconscious dwarf, "is Mariz Badin, a trusted aide of Duke Badin."
Aldrian nodded as duke Valiard glanced over at Xin Haotian. "With this mess, they’ll surely blame me and report it to His Majesty."
"Well, if they act as I suspect, we’ll be the ones applying pressure instead. Even if they’ve done nothing wrong here, you don’t need to worry—every witness here will forget ever meeting us." Aldrian replied.
They had refrained from killing any members of the Badin family to avoid complicating matters between Badin and Valiard family. However, that could change if the Badin family had any involvement in the disappearance of the blueprint. If it turned out a high-ranking noble family had conspired to steal one of the kingdom’s secrets, it would cause a massive scandal.
Vandal, feeling enraged by being ignored, shouted once more at Duke Valiard, "Duke Valiard! You’re making a huge mistake by coming here! You will face severe retribution for trespassing in the Badin Dukedom and attacking us!"
Aldrian looked at the dwarf and quickly deduced that whatever they were doing here was related to the blueprint located further up the mountain. Without hesitation, he placed his hand on Vandal’s forehead and used a memory-reading technique. The moment he did, Vandal fell silent, his eyes rolling back as his body went limp.
Duke Valiard observed Aldrian’s actions, waiting for the result. After a few moments, Aldrian finally released Vandal’s head.
He then turned to Duke Valiard and Xin Haotian, who had already finished sweeping the area to eliminate any remaining "bugs" that could interfere with their operation.
"It’s confirmed, they’re here because of the blueprint." Aldrian said. "It seems they’ve been here for years, ever since the blueprint disappeared from the royal family’s treasure vault. From Vandal’s memories, the blueprint is with Mardred Valiard."
Duke Valiard trembled at the mention of his elder brother’s name. "So my elder brother is...?"
Aldrian nodded. "Yes, they’ve been tracking him too, and he’s up there," he said, pointing toward the heights of Dragon Back Mountain. "He has the blueprint. But as for how he managed to climb up there, I don’t know—or rather, he doesn’t know. There’s something strange about your brother. However, I might be able to find someone who does."
Duke Valiard’s worry deepened at this revelation. "Elder brother, what happened to you? Why would you bring the blueprint to such a remote place?"
Aldrian carefully sifted through the memories of each person present, hoping to find a clue about how Mardred had managed to reach the top of the mountain. However, the result was the same—they had no idea how he had done it. Still, Aldrian found something interesting within a few of the memories. The Badin family had been chasing Mardred, who at that time was in possession of the blueprint. When they reached this place, Mardred had somehow climbed the cliff of Dragon Back Mountain without being torn apart by the fierce winds that normally shredded anyone who tried.
The witnesses had gasped in shock, and when they attempted to catch him, the winds had brutally slashed the pursuers to pieces, costing them several members—including a few at the King stage and even one at the Emperor stage. Since then, the Badin family had established a perimeter around the mountain with the help of Marquess Ringad and Baron Buwan, nobles loyal to their faction.
They had tried every method imaginable to break through, but nothing had worked. They also suspected the region was under the influence of a powerful formation and had called in several formation masters, but all had failed to unravel the mystery.
Today, Duke Badin had ordered them to make another attempt, even at the cost of their legacy divine-grade artifacts, to test the waters. Until now, they had been reluctant to use divine-grade artifacts, not wanting to risk them in this strange place. They feared that the winds might grow stronger with each attempt and destroy the artifact.
Today had proven their fears justified—the wind had indeed intensified, nearly destroying the Low divine-grade armor they had brought. With their lord’s orders and permission, they were now preparing to use a Middle divine-grade artifact in their next attempt.
Aldrian explained everything he had uncovered to Duke Valiard, detailing the movements of the Badin family and the strange situation surrounding Mardred Valiard, who had managed to climb the mountain unscathed. Now, he was curious about what had caused the formation to make Mardred an exception, allowing him to bypass the deadly winds.
"Now that we know your elder brother is up there, the question that remains is: why did he do that? The only way to find out is for us to climb the mountain and confront him," Aldrian explained to Duke Valiard.
"But how? How are we supposed to do what my elder brother did?" Duke Valiard asked, concerned.
Aldrian paused, deep in thought. "What could be inside him that made the formation exclude him?" He mulled over the possibilities, then suddenly an idea struck him.
"Could it be... the blueprint?" Aldrian’s eyes narrowed as he looked toward the mountain. Without further hesitation, he stepped forward, preparing to approach the perilous region.
